'Acting President Pence' cannot pardon Trump if he resigns

 Amid the talk of a possible resignation from President Donald Trump in hopes of being pardoned by President Pence is the realization that Pence most likely will not be able to pardon Trump. Here's how it goes: Trump now has less than 60 days left in his term. At this point, even if Trump were to resign today, Pence could assume the responsibilities of the Presidency without taking the oath of office, under the 25th Amendment, just as if the President were temporarily disabled and in the hospital.

As Acting President, not having taken the Oath of Office, Pence really would not be President. He would be the custodian of the duties of the President, but he would not actually be President. In that capacity, so far as I can determine as a political science scholar, Pence would not have the power of the Presidential pardon available to him. 

When Reagan turned power over to Bush

When Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981, he turned over the power of the Presidency to George H.W. Bush, his Vice-President, while he underwent surgery. During the surgery, Bush was Acting President but he did not have Presidential pardon powers nor did he take the Oath of Office as President. 

At this point, there are so few days left in Trump's term that Pence most likely would fill in as Acting President without even taking the Oath of Office. And just like Bush in 1981, Pence will not have the pardon powers available to him.

A failing self pardon

It is likely, therefore, that Trump will be advised by his legal team to utilize the one remaining option available to him: pardoning himself. It is unknown at this point if a self-pardon will be successful for Trump. Sources believe the Supreme Court would overturn a self-pardon on the grounds that nobody can fairly judge himself or herself.

State prosecution

Even if Trump is successful at pardoning himself of the federal tax charges against him, he will not be able to relinquish himself of the state charges against him in New York State. Trump will face prosecution after he leaves office. That is for sure, pardon or not.

Lindsey Graham arrested while tossing Georgia ballots into ocean

(Satire at its best)...

Senator Lindsey Graham, (R, SC), was arrested yesterday along a Savannah, Georgia pier while allegedly throwing legal ballots into the Atlantic Ocean. The ballots, which were primarily from Democratic districts in Atlanta and Savannah, were  packed in white U.S. Mail packing boxes with labels addressed to elections offices in Atlanta and Savannah. It was estimated that Graham had at least 70 boxes stacked along the pier, each box easily containing at least 300 marked ballots. 

Graham's Chevy Suburban, which was found about a hundred feet from the pier, was loaded with another 50 to 60 boxes of ballots. It is believed that they were early mail-in ballots that Graham and his cohorts in crime somehow had managed to attain early in the vote counting process.

Scuba team retrieval

A scuba team of Navy Seals, which ironically has just undergone document retrieval training in the high seas, has been deployed to retrieve the ballots and deliver them to the proper Elections Offices. 

Graham's Judiciary Committee Chairmanship

It is not known if or how Graham's arrest and likely conviction will affect his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee. However, it is unlikely that he will chair the confirmation hearing of the next Supreme Court Justice. Camera crews can't social distance in the Federal Penn!

Trump's biggest regret: Marilyn did not jump out of a cake for his birthday

(Satire at its best).

Outgoing President Donald J. Trump, after finally tweeting that he had lost to Joe Biden, stated that his biggest regret as President was that Marilyn Monroe did not pop out of a birthday cake for him and sing "Happy Birthday Mr. President" to him. "If she could pop out of a birthday cake for JFK in 1962, the second year of his Presidency,  why couldn't she pop out of a cake for me in 2018, the second year of my Presidency?," the President asked Chris Hayes in a rarely granted MSNBC interview.

 

Trump continued, "JFK did great things for civil rights, for world peace and for the Space Race. But look at me. Nobody did more for all of those things than me and my administration. If JFK could get recognition from Marilyn Monroe, then why can't I get at least a pop up birthday cake visit?"

Not worth the jealousy

Hayes then asked the President if he thought that it perhaps was better for everyone concerned that Marilyn did not pop out of a birthday cake for him since it could have made Melania jealous. Trump quickly responded, "Oh no. Melania and I have discussed jealousy before. She has made it very clear to me that I simply am not worth being jealous about. So far as she's concerned, anybody could pop out of that cake and she would not be jealous. I simply am not worth the jealousy to her."

 

 

 

 

 

McConnell gives Trump's Concession Speech for him on Senate Floor

(Satire at its best...)

A tired, torn and haggard Mitch McConnell took to the Senate Floor on Tuesday after an exhaustive meeting in the White House Situation Room with President Trump, Vice-President Pence, Lindsey Graham and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The hastily called meeting, which was scrutinized by Vladimir Putin remotely via hidden cameras and microphones, allegedly was called to discuss "the President's next steps and the future of the GOP." 

It is unknown who among the guests wore masks at the meeting, but unnamed sources have confirmed that Putin was wearing his mask throughout his surveillance of the meeting. It is unknown if the guests were tested for COVID-19 upon entering the Situation Room. However, Russian media sources have verified that Putin recently tested negative for COVID-19.

 

McConnell's announcement:

McConnell, still winded from running into the Capitol corridor after being dropped off by one of the White House Chevy Suburbans driven by Donald Trump Jr., approached the Well of the Senate Floor and began his short, unrehearsed speech with all the major news sources present, even FOX News. 

"I met with the President and Vice-President Pence and leading GOP members of both houses of Congress. We discussed various options for President Trump, the GOP, and, most importantly, the American People, including the President's base. After much bantering back and forth, it was decided that I am to give this short statement which I will read now..

I, Mitch McConnell, acting on behalf of another, hereby concede the 2020 Presidential election to Former Vice-President Joseph A. Biden on behalf of President Donald J. Trump, effective this date, November 10, 2020. I do this freely and with all kinds of reservations; but nobody cares what I think anymore."